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Recipes

FreeMaintained

Wraps the TheMealDB API to search for recipes, get full meal details, random meal suggestions, and find recipes by ingredient.

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About

Wraps the TheMealDB API to search for recipes, get full meal details, random meal suggestions, and find recipes by ingredient.

README

Recipes MCP — wraps TheMealDB API (free tier, no auth)

Part of Pipeworx — an MCP gateway connecting AI agents to 1683+ live data sources.

Tools

Tool Description
search_meals Search TheMealDB for recipes by meal name. Returns full recipe details — category, cuisine area, ingredients with measurements, step-by-step instructions, tags, thumbnail, and YouTube/source URLs.
get_meal Get complete recipe details including ingredients with measurements and step-by-step cooking instructions. Pass a meal ID from search_meals or random_meal.
random_meal Get a random meal recipe with full ingredients and cooking instructions. Use when you need recipe inspiration without a specific search.
meals_by_ingredient Find all recipes using a specific ingredient (e.g., "chicken", "garlic", "pasta"). Returns meal names and IDs to pass to get_meal.

Quick Start

Add to your MCP client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "recipes": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/recipes/mcp"
    }
  }
}

What this endpoint actually serves

tools/list at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/recipes/mcp returns the tools in the table above plus the shared Pipeworx meta-tools — ask_pipeworx, discover_tools, search_within, remember/recall and the rest of the gateway-wide set. So the tool count you see is larger than this table: a single-pack endpoint currently lists roughly 30 shared tools alongside the pack's own. The connection's initialize response states its exact scope, and is the authoritative answer for a given day.

This is deliberate, not multiplexing by accident. The meta-tools are what let a scoped connection answer a question this pack does not cover — via ask_pipeworx, which routes across the whole catalog — without you adding a second MCP server. There is currently no way to mount a pack endpoint without them; if the extra schemas cost you more context than the routing is worth, connect to the full gateway once rather than to several pack endpoints.

Or connect to the full Pipeworx gateway to get every pack's tools listed directly, instead of just this one's:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pipeworx": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Both URLs reach the same gateway and the same 1683+ data sources. The only difference is which pack's tools are listed directly; ask_pipeworx reaches all of them from either one.

No MCP client? Call it over HTTP

curl -X POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/search_meals \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"query":"pasta"}'

No account needed for the first calls. Inspect any tool: GET https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/search_meals. Find one: POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/search_packs with {"query":"..."}.

Standalone (no gateway account)

This package also runs as a local stdio MCP server — no Pipeworx account, no gateway round-trip:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "recipes": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@pipeworx/mcp-recipes"]
    }
  }
}

Or run it directly to confirm it starts:

npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-recipes

It speaks MCP over stdin/stdout and answers initialize/tools/list/tools/call for only this pack's tools — none of the shared meta-tools the gateway connection above adds. Same source, same tools, no ask_pipeworx routing.

Using with ask_pipeworx

Instead of calling tools directly, you can ask questions in plain English — this works on the pack endpoint above as well as on the full gateway:

ask_pipeworx({ question: "your question about Recipes data" })

The gateway picks the right tool and fills the arguments automatically.

More

License

MIT

from github.com/pipeworx-io/mcp-recipes

Install Recipes in Claude Desktop, Claude Code & Cursor

Recommended · one command, every IDE
unyly install recipes-mcp

Installs into Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor & VS Code — handles npx, uvx and build-from-source repos for you.

First time? Get the CLI: curl -fsSL https://unyly.org/install | sh

Or configure manually

Run in your terminal:

claude mcp add recipes-mcp -- npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-recipes

Step-by-step: how to install Recipes

FAQ

Is Recipes MCP free?

Yes, Recipes MCP is free — one-click install via Unyly at no cost.

Does Recipes need an API key?

No, Recipes runs without API keys or environment variables.

Is Recipes hosted or self-hosted?

Self-hosted: the server runs locally on your machine via the install command above.

How do I install Recipes in Claude Desktop, Claude Code or Cursor?

Open Recipes on unyly.org, pick your client tab (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor) and press Install — the config is generated automatically, no JSON editing.

Changes

Versions and requested access over time.

  • New version published
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  • New version published
  • New version published
  • New version published

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